Showing papers on "Government published in 1987"

Of Market Failure, Voluntary Failure, and Third-Party Government: Toward a Theory of Government-Nonprofit Relations in the Modern Welfare State

Abstract: Despite the fact that gouernment in the United States relies more heavily on nonprofit organizations than on its own instrumentalities to deliver government- funded human services, and that nonprof...

Policy and Politics in West Germany: The Growth of a Semisovereign State

Abstract: How can we account for the lack of large-scale policy change in West Germany despite changes in the partisan make-up of the federal government? This formulation of "the German Question" differs from the one commonly posed by students of German politics, a version usually focused on Germany's tragic confrontation with modernity and a possible revival of militarism and authoritarianism. Katzenstein here uncovers the political structures that make incremental policy change such a plausible political check against the growing force of government. This book examines in detail how West German policy and politics interrelate in six problem areas: economic management, industrial relations, social welfare, migrant workers, administrative reform, and university reform. Throughout these six case studies, Katzenstein suggests that West Germany's semi-sovereign state provides the answer to the German Question as it precludes the possibility of central authority. Coalition governments, federalism, para-public institutions, and the state bureaucracy are the domestic forces that have tamed power in the Federal Republic. Author note: Peter J. Katzenstein is Professor of Government at Cornell University, as well as a former editor of International Organization.

Decentralisation as an incentive scheme

Abstract: Recent changes have introduced more decentralization in a number of traditionally centralized countries.1 In the case of France, it is sometimes claimed that the 1982-1983 reform of subcentral government is of historical importance. Although the principles of that reform are not contested any more by the new majority elected in 1986, opinions still differ on a number of policy issues. Some of the issues are presented in this introductory section. But the main purpose of this paper is not to expose or discuss in detail the problems of decentralization in France. As argued in the second part of the introductory section, the theoretical framework in which the policy issues of decentralization are usually discussed by economists is somewhat unsatisfactory, in particular when applied to unitary states such as Britain or France. The bulk of the paper is devoted to the exploration of a different approach to decentralization. It is not purported however that this approach could completely replace the more traditional one. Consequently, when, in the concluding section, we return briefly to the policy issues identified here, this is to be read as a preliminary attempt to evaluate the relevance of the reasoning developed in the paper.

Crisis and Leviathan: Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government

Abstract: Few topics are as timely as the growth of government. To understand why government has grown, Robert Higgs asserts, one must understand how it has grown. This book offers a coherent, multi-causal explanation, guided by a novel analytical framework firmly grounded in historical evidence. More than a study of trends in governmental spending, taxation, and employment, Crisis and Leviathan is a thorough analysis of the actual occasions when and the specific means by which Big Government developed in the United States. Naming names and highlighting the actions of significant individuals, Higgs examines how twentieth-century national emergencies--mainly wars, depressions, and labor disturbances--have prompted federal officials to take over previously private rights and activities. When the crises passed, a residue of new governmental powers remained. Even more significantly, each great crisis and the subsequent governmental measures have gone hand in hand with reinforcing shifts in public beliefs and attitudes toward the government's proper role in American life. Integrating the contributions of scholars in diverse disciplines, including history, law, political philosophy, and the social sciences, Crisis and Leviathan makes compelling reading for all those who seek to understand the transformation of America's political economy over the past century.

Rent Extraction and Rent Creation in the Economic Theory of Regulation

Abstract: The economic theory of regulation has advanced considerably since Stigler’s seminal piece explained government’s ability to create rents by cartelizing private producers.1 Because political action can redistribute wealth generally, it is now seen that private interest groups other than producers also have an incentive to organize, both to obtain the gains and to avoid the losses from a whole menu of government enactments.2 The configuration of winners and losers depends on many factors, and it changes as the underlying demands for and costs of regulation shift. New technology, for example, may render existing government regulations undesirable to their prior beneficiaries or make current regulations useful to groups previously not benefited. Finally, “government” itself has come to be treated, not as a unit, but as a complicated network of individuals, each with an incentive to maximize his own interest.

The State and Poverty in India

Abstract: This analysis of the role of government in eradicating India's rural poverty raises a whole series of crucial contemporary issues relating to the state, its degree of autonomy in the developing world and the problems of effecting genuine redistributive reform. The particular importance of the book is that it focuses attention on the nature of ruling political parties as an important factor influencing the success or failure of redistributive and welfare politics in a democratic capitalist setting. Dr Kohli compares in detail three state-level Indian governments of the late seventies: Communist-ruled West Bengal, Karnataka under the Congress Party, and Uttar Pradesh under the Janata Party. Comparing these in terms of their success in redistributing agricultural land and creating employment for the rural poor, the author argues cogently that well-organised, left-of-centre parties in government - like that in West Bengal - are the most effective in implementing reform.

Improving Public Management

Abstract: Preface Thatcherism and Raynerism Management and Efficiency in Government Management Information and the Minister as Manager Centralize In Order To Decentralize Spend to Save Statisticians as Professionals in Government The Efficiency of the Efficiency Strategy Market Approaches to Public Management The Financial Management Initiative The Politics of Efficiency and Management of Change

Understanding Technical Change As an Evolutionary Process

Abstract: 1. Technical Change and Economic Analysis 2. Evolutionary Modelling 3. Inter-Industry Differences 4. The Public and Private Faces of Technology 5. Government Support of Technical Advance in Industry 6. Reprise

Top decisions : strategic decision-making in organizations

Abstract: How are important decisions made? What influences such decisions - their complexity, the ease with which they can be made, or the political dimension? The more strategic the decision, the more complex the decision making "game" becomes. This book analyzes how that game is played at the top of big organizations - in the private and public sectors. Based on ten years of research at Bradford Management Centre, this book features the results and experience of 150 case studies. Its wide coverage takes in subjects as diverse as the differences between decisions about new products and new technology, personnel and reorganization, and which kinds of outside interest, for example, government, trade unions, exert influence.

Public Opinion and Policy Liberalism in the American States

Abstract: This paper examines the effect of public opinion on public policy in the American states. We use a new measure of state public opinion, liberal-conservative ideological identification of state electorates, derived from aggregating CBS News/New York Times national opinion surveys. Regression and LISREL are used in the analysis to demonstrate that state opinion is a major determinant of state policy. Citizen preferences are markedly more important than state social and economic characteristics in accounting for patterns of policy liberalism in the states. These results constitute a major challenge to economic development as an explanation of state policy. Unless mass views have some place in the shaping of policy, all the talk about democracy is nonsense. -V. 0. Key (1961, p. 7) Popular control of public policy is a central tenet of democratic theory. Indeed, we often gauge the quality of democratic government by the responsiveness of public policymakers to the preferences of the mass public as well as by formal opportunities for, and the practice of, mass participation in political life. The potential mechanisms of democratic popular control can be stated briefly. In elections, citizens have the opportunity to choose from leaders who offer differing futures for government action. Once elected, political leaders have incentives to be responsive to public preferences. Elected politicians who offer policies that prove unpopular or unpleasant in their consequences can be replaced at the next election by other politicians who offer something different. Of course, this picture describes only the democratic ideal. A cynic would describe the electoral process quite differently: Election campaigns

The economic analysis of technology policy

Abstract: Governments are becoming more aware of the importance of technology in generating economic performance, and the extent of public intervention in the technological process has increased considerably since the war. This book looks at why and how this intervention should take place from the standpoint of economic theory. Stoneman begins by discussing the welfare framework and the relationship between technological change and economic performance. He then investigates the effects of technology policies in a theoretical framework that unifies invention, innovation, and diffusion. The emphasis on diffusion policies breaks relatively unexplored ground. Particular topics in technology policy are analysed, with chapters on patents, standards, risk uncertainty and finance, the international dimension, the defence sector, and employment. Finally, the past experiences of government interventions are reviewed and conclusions drawn. This is a book for students taking courses in industrial economics, economic policy, or the economics of technological change, researchers and policy advisers in the field.

Teledemocracy : can technology protect democracy?

Abstract: The Debate Over Technology and Democracy The Promise of Technology The Institutional Context of Political Participation Bringing 'The People' Into Politics Bringing Government to Citizens Experimenting with Referenda Teaching Citizenship Through Technology Lessons from the Participation Projects Democracy and Technology

The Adoption and Diffusion of Imported Technology: The Case of Korea

Abstract: This book considers the problems that developing countries face when importing technology from abroad. The major issues - technical, economic, political - are analysed in the case of one particular country: Korea. The book describes the negotiations with the foreign companies that controlled the desired technology, the building of the plants, the training of engineers and managers to replace expatriots, the improvements of processes and products and the maintenance of efficient and profitable production. In their research the authors were given access to information usually kept confidential - government memoranda and minutes, company contacts and records, costs and prices. The book also considers how typical of the developing countries Korea is, and the authors make certain policy recommendations for the future.

Closed Borders: The Contemporary Assault on Freedom of Movement

Abstract: Looks at how governments have dealt with emigration and immigration in the past, assesses the impact of such government control, and recommends a policy of free movement around the world.

Some theoretical aspects of agricultural policies

Abstract: In virtually every country, governments intervene in agricultural markets in a variety of ways : with subsidies and taxes, with creidt, with price stabilization programs, and with expenditure programs. This article provides a systematic framework within which these various programs can be assessed. The analysis of any policy must begin with a description of its effects. An evaluation of the appropriateness of any policy must begin by specifying the reasons for market failure and the instruments at the disposal of the government. The article focuses on the consequences of imperfect risk and credit markets and considers the incentive and distributive effects of alternative government programs.

Targeting the Computer: Government Support and International Competition

Abstract: Most industrial nations actively support research and development of advanced computer technology. They usually justify public expenditures on the basis of both economic and national security benefits. This heavy government involvement and the international nature of the computer industry have created increasing challenges to accepted principles of international trade and investment.In this detailed analysis of the origins and evolution of government support for computer technology in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, Kenneth Flamm compares the amounts these countries have invested and how they have organized public and private funding over the past thirty-five years. He challenges popular myths about the size and effectiveness of government programs to support computer technology, and argues that the data suggest a high social rate of return on those investments. Flamm concludes that the United States must reevaluate its policies on research and development. The role of military programs as the primary vehicle for computer technology development should be de-emphasized in favor of support for joint, pre-competitive industrial research. Cooperative research ventures linking universities and industry also ought to be encouraged. Since global markets are vital to American computer firms, Flamm argues that policies to promote orderly international trade and investment in high-technology products are needed to avoid an expanding spiral of protectionism.

Contracting for Social Services: Process Management and Resource Dependencies

Abstract: A new interorganizational environment has emerged as nongovernmental organizations have increasingly been used to implement public policy in the social services. As yet, there is a paucity of appropriate concepts, models, and data to describe the organizational consequences of separating governmental funding from service delivery as found in purchase of service contracting. Drawing mainly on three recent studies of contracting in the San Francisco Bay Area, this paper employs a political economy model to analyze the choices and constraints faced by local governmental agencies and nonprofit service providers as they move through the five stages of the contract management process. The strategies used by provider agencies to cope with their dependencies on government for funds and clients are then described. A series of questions is identified for policymakers interested in improving the contracting process.

Sites and services - and subsidies : the economics of low-cost housing in developing countries

Abstract: Sites and services projects represent a major innovation in shelter policy in developing countries and have been sponsored by international aid agencies for somewhat more than a decade. Such government projects deliver a package of shelter-related services, the standards of which depend on the ability and willingness to pay of intended beneficiaries. Typically, such projects represent a sharp break with pre-existing government shelter policies in that they attempt, in principle, to focus directly on lower-income groups and to deliver shelter and services with small or no subsidies. This article : i) describes the background of the sites and services concept; ii) reviews recent evaluations of sites and services projects; iii) presents an analytical model of the sites and services paradigm; iv) summarizes recent research on housing demand; v) reviews planning assumptions used in World Bank sites and services projects; vi) compares these assumptions with empirical evidence on willingness to pay for housing; and vii) examines project experience in light of contrasts between actual planning assumptions and empirical research on demand for shelter. The article concludes with suggestions for ways to improve the project design process and reform housing sector policies to increase the efficacy of the sites and services paradigm.

Constitutional Reform and Effective Government.

Abstract: For years the public has become increasingly disillusioned and cynical about its governmental institutions. In the face of alarming problems - most notably the $400 billion budget deficit - the government seems deadlocked, reduced to partisan posturing and bickering, with the president and Congress blaming each other for failure. And neither party can be held accountable. The public tendency is to blame individual leaders - or politicians as a class - but an insistent and growing number of experienced statesmen and political scientists believe that much of the difficulty can be traced to the governmental structure itself, designed in the eighteenth century and essentially unchanged since then. Is that inherited constitutional system adequate to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, or has the time come for fundamental change? Should we adopt an electoral system that encourages unified control of the presidency, the Senate, and the House? Lengthen terms of office? Limit congressional terms? Abolish or modify the electoral college? Introduce a mechanism for calling special elections? Permit legislators to hold executive offices? Redistribute the balance of powers within the governmental system? In this revised edition of his highly acclaimed 1986 volume, James Sundquist reviews the origins and rationale of the constitutional structure and the current debate about whether reform is needed, then raises practical questions about what changes might work best if a consensus should emerge that the national government is too prone to stalemate to meet its responsibilities. Analyzing the main proposals advanced to adapt the Constitution to current conditions, he attempts to separatethe workable ideas from the unworkable, the effective from the ineffective, the possibly feasible from the wholly infeasible, and finally arrives at a set of recommendations of his own.

Compensation and support for illness and injury

Abstract: Reporting the findings of a large national survey in the United Kingdom, this study examines different systems of compensation and support for the injured, ill, or congenitally handicapped and their families. The authors assess the roles of government agencies, local authorities, employers, and informal organizations in providing such services as social security, criminal injuries compensation, sick pay, and private insurance. The work will be of interest to lawyers, government officials, social security officers, and all others working with people seeking compensation for accident and injury.

Market and Non-Market Failures: Comparison and Assessment

Abstract: This paper aims to redress the asymmetry in the standard economic treatment of the shortcomings of markets and governments by developing and applying a theory of ‘nonmarket’ failure– that is, of government failure – so that the comparison between markets and governments can be made more systematically, and choices between them arrived at more intelligently. Several conclusions are drawn. First, the choice between markets and governments is not a pure one, actual systems inevitably involve combinations between markets and governments. Second, with respect to both static and dynamic efficiency criteria, markets generally do better than governments. Third, there are various ways in which government can contribute to improving the functioning of markets. Fourth, market forces can play a useful role in improving the functioning of government and reducing the incidence of nonmarket failures.

Political Self-Efficacy Tested

Abstract: A subset of citizens in a democratic system directly test their political self-efficacy by petitioning government for assistance of one kind or another. Drawing on survey data gathered in India in 1967, this investigation focuses on the consequences of success or failure for perceived self-efficacy and for perceived government responsiveness. The analysis demonstrates that (1) successful petitioners come to enjoy a somewhat enhanced sense of self-efficacy but do not view government as particularly responsive, (2) unsuccessful petitioners do not see themselves as inefficacious but—possibly instead—do see government responsiveness in distinctly negative terms, and, (3) the kind of evidence that can help sustain a positive sense of self-efficacy will not suffice to undergird a belief in system responsiveness.

Privatization of Public Services: A Growing Threat to Constitutional Rights

Abstract: As the drive to privatize the delivery of public services has gained momentum, too little attention has been focused on the potential impact of privatization on citizen rights and access to public services. Although the United States Constitution provides many protections for citizens against arbitrary government action and infringement of individual liberties, it provides no protection from abuses by the private sector. I Can government escape constitutional restraints by transferring public authority to private groups? To facilitate understanding of the impact of privatization on constitutional rights, this paper reviews judicial decisions concerning the scope and applicability of national constitutional protections. It identifies a variety of arrangements between government and private service providers that immunize both government and private groups from constitutional restraints. Privatization does threaten constitutional rights.

Skills for Australia

Abstract: This Australian Commonwealth government policy statement presents the approach and program directions and priorities in the fields of employment, education and training for 1987-88. It is presented in two parts. Part one outlines the government's approach to aligning the education and training system to the new requirements for skills generated by the major economic challenges facing Australia. Government objectives and priorities are explained for the following areas: increased participation in education and training; quality and structure of education and training; distribution of education and training effort; raising industry's commitment to training; employment and training for disadvantaged groups; efficiency and effectiveness in education and training; and fiscal constraint. Part two begins by examining the labour market context in terms of unemployment, the job market for 15-19 year olds, skills shortages, and the outlook for the 1987-88. The key features of the government's budget decisions are then described under five main program areas: (1) Commonwealth support for TAFE; (2) employment and training assistance for youth; (3) apprenticeship and trade training programs; (4) industry training programs and services; and (5) employment and training programs for the disadvantaged. The appendices are: Rationalisation of employment and training assistance during 1987-88; Employment and training assistance expenditure and numbers approved (based on 1987-88 program structure).

Involuntary Job Loss: Institutional Interventions and a Research Agenda

Abstract: This paper focuses on efforts by government, labor, management, and researchers to understand and address the problem of involuntary job loss. A review of the literature focusing on disruptions to psychological, physiological, and social functioning due to job loss is presented. Programs initiated to counteract either the levels or the adverse consequences of unemployment are reviewed. Several specific suggestions for research on involuntary job loss are discussed, as are the managerial implications of this research.

Land-use planning in Hong Kong: History, policies, and procedures

Abstract: Land-use planning in Hong Kong has long been an inevitable subject of debate and controversy. Arguing that land-use planning should be considered as a specialised aspect of government administration, the author traces the history of planning from the founding of Hong Kong in 1841 to the present, and examines in detail the relevant current legislation, procedures and government organisation.